19-October-2000

Sex change dentist tells of struggle to conform

By JOHN MADDOCK

A SEX change dentist told the High Court yesterday she had “tried to conform until she collapsed” before having major sex change surgery.

Lydia Annice Foy (54) said she had not known until some time beforehand that the sex identity condition she suffered worsened with age rather than improved.

She was giving evidence on the second day of proceedings in which she is seeking an order to have her birth certificate altered to record her as being female rather that male.  The respondents are the Chief Registrar of Births, Marriages and Deaths and the State.

Ms Foy, of Athy, Co Kildare, is a male to female transsexual who, it was stated, underwent “gender reassignment.” She is recorded on her birth certificate as being Donal Mark Foy.  She married in 1977 and has two daughters.  The marriage ended in the early 1990s and she changed her name by deed poll to Lydia Annice Foy in 1993.

In her evidence, Ms Foy said that in having the major surgery in England, she “wasn’t a bit brave.” She needed care for a long time afterwards.

Asked by her counsel, Bill Shipsey SC, to tell of her earliest recollections about her condition, Ms Foy said she remembered being “very different.” At a very early age she was conscious of what she wore.  “I had a feeling of feminity,” she added.  It was very difficult to talk about her condition at the time.

That meant she had “a kind of secret world very early on” with lots of dreams and escapism.  “I wanted to be what I was in my dreams,” she continued.  I wanted to be feminine.”

She said she first had doubts about her sexual identity when she got her hands on books relating to childhood and adolescence.  She was about 15 at the time.  She was left feeling guilt and wondered if she would get better.  She thought she might get better later.

Mr L J Gooren, professor of transexology at the gender clinic in the Free University Hospital, Amsterdam, gave evidence on the nature of Ms Foy’s condition.  He asserted it was not a matter of lifestyle or choice, but was a medical condition.

The hearing continues today.

Copyright © Irish Independent 2000